The Davis Bike Collective is a volunteer-run nonprofit community bicycle organization. They operate a public D.I.Y. shop called Bike 4th where folks share tools, skills, and knowledge about bike maintenance and repair. The also support many community bicycle related programs such as repair workshops, bike share and lending, etc. They accept donations of used bicycles and parts from the community and, in turn, make used parts available for anyone else to build or repair a bicycle. They ask all patrons to contribute financially to the cooperative shop, but they don't turn anyone away for lack of funds. Their aim is to empower confident and committed cyclists through education and community building, and to encourage more cyclists by making bikes and bike maintenance, fun, safe and accessible for everyone.

Between 2004 and 2009 they operated as the Davis Bike Church from the Domes on the UC Davis campus where they taught thousands of Davisites the way of the spoken wheel and pedal wrench in a quest for for community liberation, love, peace, and sustainability through appropriate technology and self-empowered transportation (i.e. bicycles). In 2009 The Davis Bike Collective was founded as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

The Bike Collective does not carry new bicycles or parts. Everything is used and the parts and types of bikes available changes from day to day as inventory changes according to what is recovered from the community. The Davis Bike Collective provides tools and guidance, but the shop is otherwise a D.I.Y. space. Volunteers will help you and teach you how to build a bike or repair a busted part, but they will not do it for you.

The Collective is always looking for more help, for small projects and big projects - just stop by during open shop and ask a Minister how you can help.

Past DBC events

Type comments here:

2009-04-21 00:28:52 Are there more details about what the community can do to help with the move, and specifically what address the new space is. Riding by it was completely unclear. What about fund raising goals or monthly budget? As someone who isn't in the inner circle, has hours but not dollars, it's not clear how I can help. —AlexMandel

2009-04-21 16:50:37 Meetings every Friday at 6pm, as per Bike Church page. For the first time, we're going to hold our meeting this week in the new space. —Darach

2009-04-24 11:50:11 Is the "grand opening" going to be a grand opening or is it just going to be like the first day of operation? Also, it's really unclear where this actually is. Can you guys put up a graphic explaining or something? —jsogul

Have you tried clicking the map icon? There's one on most wiki pages.

My bad... I thought there wasn't a map icon but I was just looking in the wrong place. —jsogul

I am often able to use google maps and street view, but the above link isn't working for me. If you are at the intersection of 4th and L, you want to look on the north side of the street: between Bikram Yoga Davis and Abbey Road Press there is a courtyard, and the Bike Collective should be visible in the northwest (back) corner. —DougWalter

2009-04-26 00:59:55

Biked by the old church site today and got confused. may i suggest you put up a big and legible sign outside the church to inform people of this move?

2009-04-26 13:11:14 Does the DBC have a preference about the type of bikes/parts donated? I'll be skipping town soon and need to unload a bunch of stuff, but some of the frames and parts are from department store junkers. —TheAmazingLarry

2009-04-27 08:48:32 We are working on signs and will get those out soon at the new and old location. As for parts, we welcome all and any, but prefer not to get department store bikes (Magna, Huffy, Next, Roadmaster...). We're working on creating an alternate use for these sorts of bikes, but are still working out the details. To learn more about volunteering, sign up for our volunteer google group by searching "Bike Forth Volunteer" on google groups. We'll be sending emails out about how to help out and get involved. —smcc

2009-04-27 14:01:12 I'd like to volunteer, but I can't seem to figure out how to find the "Bike Forth Volunteer" on the google group search.. Any help/suggestions?

* The Volunteers listserv is more or less inactive, though an occasional email will go out. Anyone may join this listserv. The ministry listserv is for internal operations, and pretty much anyone interested in getting flooded with email who wants to be useful for Bike Forth and who we more or less recognize from around the shop is welcome to request an invitation to join. - Angel.York

2009-06-30 02:55:04 These folks are signifigantly awesome. If you don't mind getting a little grease on your fingers, you can fix your bike very nicely and cheaply, plus you'll know how to do it next time! Teach a man to fish, and all... The location is a bit hard to find: it's across the street from the Quaker church, at the back of that little parking lot. —Flynn

2009-09-25 23:44:06 The venerable Davis Bike Collective has saved my butt several times. You walk in with a sick bike, you ride out laughing skipping. Both riding and skipping. They're that good. They give you more than repairs, they give you new skills. I have taught my friends what I learned there, and they were seriously grateful. —Devonian

2010-01-25 10:55:52 I must agree, this is a very awesome place. Be sure to donate while you are there. Davis needs a place like this to stay open for a long time. Donate so they can pay rent and buy new tools/ equipment. Everyone is so very nice and helpful, tools and equipment are well organized. —DagonJones

2010-09-08 23:33:19 It should be noted that you can get a new-to-you bike here, for far less than it would cost to get a new bike. They aren't really in the 'business' of 'selling' bikes, but they do have a LOT of parts on hand that they are willing to let be built into a noble steed for the roads. Expect a LOT of grease, and you may wind up with a 'unique' bike, but it will be roadworthy and sound. —Flynn

2010-10-27 00:33:19 I was wondering if anyone knows about the average cost of building a bike here? I would probably do almost all the labor myself, but in terms of parts? —superamazing123

The usual guideline for building a bike from scratch is about half what it would go for on craigslist, which is normally between $10 and $80 depending on the bike. And you'll have to do ALL the labor yourself - but there are people around to explain anything you don't know how to fix. —DarinWick

2011-05-08 08:47:06 I'm pretty mechanically-inclined and I hate to pay for services I can do myself. Enter: Bike 4th. They've got all of the tools you'll need (and if they don't have it.. no, they have it). I didn't take advantage of the rummage-through-bins option but I certainly frequently use tools and stands. They've got a great support staff as well. Needless to say, this place offers a great service to the Davis community. Thanks! —ZElliott

2011-09-05 23:03:39 I have the pleasure of having a second-hand 24 year old bike that is in constant need of tune-ups, and the lovely people here have been there to help me along the way. Last time I was there they had enough patience to direct me how to open up and clean my back wheel's axle. My bike never rode so smoothly. —MarisolG

2012-04-08 01:03:04 We cancelled Tuesdays so that we can focus volunteer energy more reliably on the other open hours. —Angel.York

2012-08-13 08:00:40 My name is John Pecore, President of Bike 1st in Saint Petersburg Florida, a connection group with our Methodist church here. What you have aspired to do, we are emulating here in Florida. I did not know that you existed until I did a search. We should keep in touch. —JohnPecore

2014-06-05 12:33:36 Wow I am appalled that this Bike shop could actually call themselves a "Bike Collective" when they lie to customers inquiring about other local bike shops in town sheepishly telling them that they have closed down for good. I was looking for The Bike People bike shop that I knew was around the corner from the Bike Collective, but could not find it as they were no longer in their old location, so I asked the people from this shop if they knew where it was and they told me that The Bike People closed down for good as the main bike mechanic was sick. I later found out from Ken's Bike and Ski that the shop was still open and they directed me to their new shop location (just on the other side of their building) and sure enough they WERE OPEN!!! I explained to them what the Bike Collective people had told me and they were shocked!!!! The Bike People are not closed down and in fact are still a fully functioning bike shop. They have been dealing with the loss of Mike, the bike legend I have known about, to his lung disease taking his life 1 month ago, but with the faithful and honest hard working real and true "collective" nature of other people involved with The Bike People, they are still open and working hard to keep the bike shop alive in honor of Mike.

DON'T LISTEN TO THE BIKE COLLECTIVE IF THEY TELL YOU THE BIKE PEOPLE ARE CLOSED - AS THEY ARE JUST LYING TO YOU!!! The people from the Bike Collective are not the kind of people I would ever want to do business with when they can't even work together with their own neighboring bike shops (that are doing completely different things anyways)! The Bike Collective people could actually learn a few things from The Bike People as they like to work with their neighbors and will honestly direct their customers in the right direction if they don't have what you need. Thats real collective attitudes! —katalina

DAVIS BIKE COLLECTIVE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ABOVE COMMENT: During the time Michael was sick there was a misunderstanding about the what Kim and the Bike People were going to do. Through conversations with the Bike People we understand that they are open still to help people with the sales of quality used bikes and excellent customer service. The non-profit Davis Bike Collective, through the space the Bike Forth, has been committed to helping to teach people to fix their bikes since 2009 and before at the Domes as the Bike Church. We are always working to stay open and serve the Davis community through the help of our volunteer staff. We welcome all people of all skill levels to come help, learn, and teach people about bikes.

RANDOM COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE OF THE ABOVE COMMENT: It's rough that Mike passed. I didn't know that. The bike collective is NOT NOT NOT a shop. It's a collective, a non profit that will teach you how to fish instead of letting you pay for a fish. The above appears to be a miscommunication, every time I've needed to use the bike church it's come thru with flying colors, and all the volunteers are for the most part friendly & down to earth Daubert